Additionally, you may wish to point the ‘www’ record to 173.203.98.84 as well (if it’s not already pointed at ‘@’). All custom domains will use the ‘http://yourwebsite.com’ format (with no ‘www’). Adding the ‘www’ record just means that if folks type in ‘http://www.yourwebsite.com’ that’ll work too.

Note: Updating your DNS records is not the same as setting up a forwarder. Setting up forwarder will not work correctly.

There are a lot of other website builders out there, even ones made specifically for artists. What makes Schmolio different?

It’s true—there are a lot of tool out there for artists to create websites. Lots of people like Other People’s Pixels and Indexhibit. We think they’re great too! We just think Schmolio is easier to use and a bit more modern. Schmolio has a mobile theme (you can even do that cool swipe-y thing to navigate your albums!), can connect to your facebook account, recognizes image and audio meta-data (so you don’t have to keep typing the same information over and over), and makes uploading and organizing your media really easy.

Schmolio is more than a website-builder though. It’s a way to organize and promote your work. You can build and save a searchable resume/CV (instead of just uploading one). You’ll soon be able to add feed/calendar/facebook-ready events and news. We’re also working on private albums, which will allow you to organize and share work—with galleries, publications, etc.

Schmolio also helps your work look great by staying out of the way. We have a varied selection of customizable themes, and we’re always adding more. That way, your site looks distinctive; folks don’t hit your site and immediately think “Schmolio”. And if you need something more particular, we’re happy to help out with a custom theme. If you can think it up, we can probably build it for you.

And we’re listening—if you’ve got the ideas, we’ve got the drive.

Do you offer any protection against people downloading my work?

Short answer: nope. Lots of folks claim to offer protection, but there’s no foolproof way to actually protect your work. If someone can see your image or video, or listen to your audio, they can find a way to take it. Even flash solutions have to download the source content, and a determined user can find this information. Additionally, folks can take screen captures with the press of a button. Anyone who tells you they’re protecting your content is selling you snake oil.

What size should my images be when I upload them?

A minimum of 800px wide, a maximum somwhere between 1000px and 1440px wide.

Schmolio doesn’t actually place any limits on what size image you upload, except for a file size limit of 5MB. Schmolio also takes care of all of your image resizing. The only things you have to worry about are (a) that your images are large enough to look great, and (b) the size your image will be when it’s blown up on the screen. The popup image will be whatever size image you uploaded. So, if you upload an image that is 2000px wide, when it’s blown up it won’t fit on many users’ screens.

1000px will fit on the vast majority of screens. For reference a 13" Macbook has a 1280px screen and a 15" Macbook has a 1440px screen.

Since you may also upload details of your work, you shouldn’t need to worry about having really large images.

Is my personal information secure?

Yes!

The only personal information we collect is your email address. We do require you to choose a password for your account. This password is stored with encryption—so we don’t know your password, and neither does anyone else but you. If you forget your password, we’ll send you an email with a link to reset it—we don’t send passwords over email—so your password is safe!

You will need a credit/debit card to pay for your account. We don’t store this information on our servers. Your data goes out over an SSL-secured connection.

We believe that your domain name is something personal and precious. It’s something that ties you to the Internet. We can’t count the number of folks who we’ve had to help regain ownership of their domain names. If you register it, you own it and you adminstrate it. We think sacrificing a modicum of convenience is worth it to help maintain your freedom to do what you want with your content.

Like your domain name, your email is part of your identity. We’re not interested in tethering you to our service—we think you’ll like it enough to use it without worrying about losing your email. Increasingly, additional email accounts are foisted upon people, and they’re getting hard to manage. Many of our artists just use a standard gmail account.

But if you’re really pumped about getting emailed at ‘art.badass@thebestworkever.com’, all is not lost. Many domain name registrars, like GoDaddy, offer a free email account with your domain name. Additionally, there are a variety of paid email services, and even GoogleApps, which is free (and awesome).

Using one of these services is in your best interest, because then your email isn’t tied to your website—you can change services, move your site, etc, without losing your important emails.

Need help setting something up? Ask us!

What video format should I upload in?

Just about any format you want! You can check out the full list of supported (and unsupported) codecs and formats here.